


A Lovegood to Remember

by AI_Faervel



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Ginny dealing with Riddle Diary, and Ginny had like a month of school and two months of summer vacation to 'get over it', bc we never really got introduced to ginny and luna's year, because lets face it they glazed over that like it was nothing, but that shows up towards the end, i think thats all the applicable warnings for now...., oh and there are ocs, so you can stop sooner if you dont wanna deal with that, ya know before her second year and all that so yeah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 05:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9307820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AI_Faervel/pseuds/AI_Faervel
Summary: It's Ginny's first year at Hogwarts and who should she happen to bump into on the Hogwarts Express? Why, none other than Luna Lovegood! Her father seems to have this notion that the two of them know each other and Luna seems to know who she is, but Ginny doesn't seem to recall ever knowing Luna. A part of her feels as though maybe she and Luna had known each other once upon a time though. There's something familiar about her though, but only just so.





	1. The Hogwarts Express

**Author's Note:**

> OR. It's 4AM and I'm posting this because it has been consuming my life since last night when it first popped up and it's sort of turning into a series, but my track record makes no [solid] promises so you may just end up with only 4 chapters but at least these 4 cover 1 book so it'll be fiiiiineeeee. 
> 
> It was just supposed to be chapter 1, but like... yeah... STRESS WRITING. YAY. Anyway it's my first real HP fic so it's probably trash and OOC but meh. People like different things so here ya go! Don't be too mean to me, kay? Thanks!
> 
> Also idk where I got the title idea from. It just happened, okay? Shhh. It is 4.30AM. I may as well be drunk.

While Ginny Weasley’s first year at Hogwarts had certainly been unforgettable, it hadn’t been all shadows and mad scribblings into a strange, dark diary. It hadn’t started out that way or ended so darkly. There had been moments when things weren’t so dreary. She remembered those moments most. Her first year had gone by in a blur, but there were moments in the churning darkness that she’d prefer not to remember had happened that brought clarity and life to her, made her remember that she wasn’t a bad person, that she had just made a mistake. That she could be forgiven. That she had been forgiven.

Really, it was all she could cling onto. Those memories were far better than the ones she had of spilling her feelings into a diary that wrote back to her and gave her empty promises and false dreams. She should have known better, she should have, but she had been eleven and scared and convinced she was in love with a boy who didn’t even notice her. The words in the diary had been comforting and kind, encouraging and hopeful. It was hard not to pay it any attention. And it was harder to tell someone for fear of it being taken away—her only comfort.

But enough of that. Those aren’t the memories she wants to keep and remember. No, this is a tale of when she was young and scared and hadn’t yet turned to a dark, twisted diary corrupted by vile magic. This is the story of how she first met Luna Lovegood—or to be precise: how Ginny Weasly and Luna Lovegood became friends once again. . .

 

Her mother’s voice rings in her ear, a dozen reminders to write back home, listen to the professors, do her homework, keep up her studies, ask questions, stay out of trouble, brush her teeth every night, eat at every meal, and _do_ stay out of trouble—don’t do anything Fred and George would do. She nods along and agrees to her mother’s demands, both of them knowing full well that within two weeks it’ll all have gone through her other ear, completely forgotten. She does give a lopsided grin her mother doesn’t catch when she mentions the twins.

She’s pretty sure she’s not going to be getting into any insane trouble like Ron, but she’s not going to be as studious as Percy either. Still, she probably won’t get up to the level of Fred and George’s shenanigans. Charlie teases she’ll probably be the least troublesome of them all, the only girl and normal one among them. Bill says otherwise—knowing her, she’ll turn out to be the most troublesome one of the lot, being the rogue princess of the family and all. Their mother praises Charlie, of course, and agrees wholeheartedly. Their father on the other hand just tells her to enjoy herself and it wouldn’t matter—between Ron being friends with Harry and roped into his problems and the twin’s wild antics, he’s sure they’ll be able to handle anything amiss that comes their way from her.

It’s the same trip she’s made every year when her brothers have all gone off to Hogwarts, but this time it’s somehow different. This time she’s going too, no longer left behind to wave goodbyes to them and long for the day she’s to go to Hogwarts. She had thought she wouldn’t be scared of this moment, but as they walk along at a steady pace towards Platform 9 ¾ she finds her heart beating crazy fast, and marvels at how her heart hasn’t broken out of her chest yet. She gulps and looks to her parents to see if they can tell. They don’t, she thinks.

And somehow her mother still holding onto her hand like she’s five is more comforting than embarrassing—not that she’ll admit it out loud. She palms are sweaty and she’s half afraid her hand is going to slip from her mother’s and she’ll be lost in the crowd. She’s done this year after year and seen it again and again. It shouldn’t be that scary, but it is. Merlin, how had her brothers done it? Curiously, she glances at her brothers.

Percy, expectedly, is pushing his cart along and muttering about how regulations concerning the Hogwarts Express could be improved—a bit strange for muggles to be seeing things like owls and toads in cages, isn’t it? Don’t they wonder and question? And really, a barrier to slip into? A muggle’s bound to notice people disappearing into stone columns! Couldn’t they be a bit more discreet? Sometimes he points these things out to their father, but he just smiles and nods, half listening because his eyes are glued to all the muggle contraptions around them and how the muggles do things.

Fred and George are whispering about something to each other. They catch her looking and send her teasing grins and make princess motions or baby ones. She sticks out her tongue at them in response and feels less scared now, still she’s reluctant to fully withdraw her hand from her mother’s hold and instead turns to look for Ron.

He’s with Harry, of course, and they’re excitedly chatting about something. Quidditch probably. Her eyes linger on Harry and his tousled black hair, cracked glasses, and the scar she knows to be just under his hairline. A tiny smile forms on her lips as she recalls how Harry looked last year and it’s a great deal of comfort. He had been incredibly scared and nervous, barely able to ask for directions. If Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, had been nervous and made it alone, she certainly could too!

They slip through the barrier without a problem and she takes in the crowded platform, feeling the pit in her stomach return ten-fold. The gleaming train is suddenly much more intimidating than she remembered it being. Her hand reflexively tightens in her mother’s hold and she misses how her mother looks down at her with fondness before squeezing back gently. “Shall we help you find a compartment?” she asks.

Ginny is slow to answer, not quite sure if she wants the familiarity and comfort of her parents or to be let loose and forge her own path. She longs for the later, but honestly, it’s all new and scary. She doesn’t get to tell her mother that she’ll be fine on her own until she’s being pulled along after her. Two minutes later and she’s finally worked up the courage to speak. “M-Mum, I’ll be fine!” she hisses, digging in her heels and making her mother stop.

“Oh, I know, Ginny, I know, it’s just…” and her mother stops for a moment to look at her and Ginny can properly see the tears beginning to glisten in her eyes.

“I… guess you can help me onto the train,” mumbles Ginny, remembering she’s the daughter her mother had always wanted and never thought she’d have. She watches as her mother’s eyes go wide for a split second before she quickly brushes a hand against her eyes and sniffles as discreetly as she can and nods, telling her to keep up. It’s a little embarrassing and Ginny’s not really sure why that is, but she doesn’t complain or try to resist her mother’s pull and bears with it. “Thanks, Mum.” She smiles and wraps her arms around her mother tightly. It’s a little sad, but she knows it’s not forever. “I’ll write every day!”

“That’s my Ginny,” beamed her mother, pulling her in for another hug. “Oh, are you sure you don’t need any help? What if you can’t reach the luggage compartment?” she tutted, taking a step forward.

“Mum, she’ll be fine,” reassured Fred and George. “Don’t we get any hugs?”

Their mother paused and mockingly hit their arms. “She better be! I’m holding you two responsible if anything happens to Ginny.”

“But Percy’s the oldest…” started Fred.

“… shouldn’t he be taking responsibility?” finished George.

“Of course, but Percy’s quite focused on his studies, unlike you two,” she continued, arms crossed and fixating them with a stern look.

“We study!” they protested. “Percy’s the responsible one.”

“Nevertheless, I’m expecting you two to keep an eye out on your baby sister!”

“Mum…” all three of them chorused.

“Oh, come here, you two.” And she drew in Fred and George for their own hugs before ushering them on inside the train. “Do try to look out for Ginny, will you?” she whispered to them, almost unheard by Ginny, almost.

“Mum! I’ll be fine!” insisted Ginny.

Their mother stepped away and beamed at all of them. “Now where did your father get to… You all ought to say your goodbyes to him too.” She turned and scanned the crowd and five seconds later went, “Aha! There he is! Arthur!”

The three of them wilted a bit as heads turned and looked their way. She was more than aware of a few snickers and pointing fingers. She heard Fred and George muttering “ _gits_ ” under their breath, and would’ve joined them in uttering it and throwing dark looks too, but by then their father had come striding over with someone in tow.

“Remember the Lovegoods, Molly?” started Arthur. “Kids, this is Xenophilius Lovegood and his daughter, Luna. Ginny, you remember Luna, don’t you?”

“Luna!” exclaimed Fred and George a little gleefully. “Wonderful seeing you again.”

Ginny looked to her brothers questioningly and then glanced over to the blonde girl hidden behind the towering man who must be Xenophilius. While their parents exchanged pleasantries and the twins disappeared inside the train, she took in the pale, blonde girl. She didn’t quite seem to recognize her, but there was a sense of familiarity about her.

A sharp whistle from the train got their attention. “Oh, the train!” exclaimed Molly. “Come on, girls, kisses and hugs and then off you go.”

“Where are Fred and George?” mused Arthur as he leaned down to hug Ginny. “I could’ve sworn they had just been here…”

“They’re already inside the train,” smiled Ginny as she pulled away from her father and went to give her mother another hug. “Love you!” she called out before boarding the train and watching as Luna and her father not only hugged, but also did some sort of elaborate handshake that finally ended with him giving her a pat on the head.

It would have been rude not to wait for Luna, so she waited and then went off in search of a compartment, or rather she tried to, but it was a bit intimidating with so many students who seemed to know each other calling out to one another and going up and down the corridors. It was Luna who took point and Ginny unconsciously followed after her. Somehow, Luna had managed to find an empty compartment. Ginny paused at the door, not sure if Luna would mind, but Luna didn’t seem to be paying her much attention and was settling herself by the window with a magazine in hand, so she stepped in and began to put up her trunk too.

“Luna, was it?” tried Ginny when she was done and sitting across from her. Luna’s hair was a mess, as if she hadn’t run a brush through her hair and just woken up and just patted it down. She was also wearing robes that looked as if a rainbow and puked over it. It was a multitude of bright colors and glittered here and there in the light. Her ears were pierced and oddly rounded red gems gleamed through her hair. Her shoes looked like they had strawberries strewn all about them and there was this strange looking necklace that suspiciously looked like butterbeer caps. It was strange, but Ginny supposed it was fine. She herself had second hand robes, so it wasn’t like she could say much. Besides, she didn’t know anything about wizarding fashion anyway. She’d grown up with Quidditch, not clothes.

Luna nodded, lowering her magazine so that her silver-gray eyes peeked out over the top. “Ginny Weasley.” Ginny nodded too, not sure how to respond to that. She tried to think of something to talk about, but couldn’t. She didn’t know Luna at all—no matter what her dad said. After a few minutes of silence, she finally gave up and went searching through her things for her magazine on the Holyhead Harpies. “Are you still good on a broom?”

The question startled Ginny so much she dropped her copy of _The Holyhead Harpies_. “What?”

“Are you still good on a broom?” asked Luna with no change.

“Um… yes. How did you know I fly?” asked Ginny, eyes narrowing in curiosity. Luna was a first year like her, or so thought Ginny because she hadn’t seen any house colors or markings on her things, so how did Luna know something like that?

“You used to fly all the time.”

“… Yeah. I did.” Okay, so maybe she and Luna _were_ acquainted, only _she_ didn’t remember, but Luna clearly did. “I’m sorry. I don’t really remember you…”

There was a small squeak that sounded like an, “Oh…” from Luna before she pulled up her paper, which Ginny now noticed was titled _The Quibbler,_ up and hid her face again. “I remember you.” She was more than confused with how this was turning out. Maybe she should’ve tried to find a different compartment to sit in… She wished someone else would come in and sit with them. She remembered how Ron had mentioned Harry had tried to find somewhere to sit on the train and couldn’t find anything and that was how they had met. He had been quite surprised when Harry rapped on the door and asked to accompany him over ten minutes into the ride.

“So, we knew each other?” prompted Ginny when it became apparent Luna wasn’t going to keep talking. The Quibbler lowered for a few seconds, just long enough for Luna to make eye contact and nod before pulling it back up. “How?” she pressed on.

“We’re neighbors.”

Now that Luna mentioned it, she _did_ remember her parents talking about their neighbors now and again. It was rarely brought up, but when it was, her dad would go on about inviting them over, but her mother would be against it. They’d immediately hush up about it though whenever she came into the room or thought she was listening. “So… we used to know each other?”

“Yes.”

This was getting her nowhere. An awkward silence fell over them again, but Luna didn’t seem to mind at all and Ginny wondered if it was just her. She supposed Luna might have been hurt that she didn’t remember her, so maybe that was why she didn’t seem to want to talk. Maybe if they talked about something else? She tried to think of something and looked at Luna again. Her eyes were caught on the butterbeer cap necklace. Licking her lips, she got Luna’s attention. “What’s that around your neck?”

Luna, who had stopped reading ages ago and had been looking out of the window, turned to meet her gaze. “Oh, this?” She fingered the necklace for a moment and then brought it up. “It’s a necklace.”

Ginny wasn’t sure if she wanted to bash her head into the train’s walls or strangle Luna. “Yes, but what’s it for?” she asked as patiently as she could, treating Luna like her father when he got obsessed with some muggle artifact he had either been working on or brought home from work. As long as she kept that in mind, she didn’t immediately say something rash. She knew how her father could get when it came to muggle artifacts, so she reasoned that maybe it was the same with Luna… only with… everything.

Light shone in Luna’s silver-gray eyes. “Oh! Nargles!”

Ginny found herself blanking and reflexively asking, “What?”

“Nargles!” chirped Luna with a smile, moving to sit next to her and leaning in closely as if someone could overhear them, she continued in a hushed voice, “It wards off the Nargles. They like mistletoe, but you never know where you could find them.” And then she had leaned away again.

“What are… _Nargles_?” She was fairly certain she had never heard of Nargles before and her mother knew all the magical pests and she had _never_ mentioned Nargles before. “Is that a muggle thing?”

Luna shook her head. “Oh, no. Mischievous creatures, they are. Very hard to find though. I mean, they are mischievous little thieves after all. They wouldn’t be very good thieves if they were easy to find. My dad and I have been trying to prove they exist since people don’t want to admit they’re real.”

“Un-huh…”

“It’s rather difficult, proving they exist. It’s much harder than trying to prove something like Slytherins being capable of good. A real challenge if you ask me,” continued Luna with a soft sigh. “You know it’s all lies, right?” Ginny just turned her head to the side lightly. “Slytherin’s being evil, of course.”

Maybe this was why her mother hadn’t wanted the Lovegoods in their lives. Very peculiar, Luna. Well. She supposed with a name like Xenophilius, of course the Lovegoods were strange. “But Slytherin is evil…”

“Are they?”

“W-Well yeah. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was Slytherin and he’s evil.” Was she dealing with a Death Eater’s daughter by chance? It couldn’t be though; her father had seemed to like Luna’s dad well enough. He couldn’t have been a Death Eater then… which meant Luna probably didn’t support the Dark Lord either.

“Just because one thing is something doesn’t mean everything is.”

“Well, yeah, but you can’t deny that a lot of Slytherins are bad and were Death Eaters.”

Luna looked at her then and they held each other’s gaze for a moment before Luna looked away. “No, I can’t. But if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was evil and a Slytherin and that’s why Slytherin is evil, then by that logic, if Merlin was good and a Slytherin then Slytherin must be good.”

“Wait, hold on, Merlin wasn’t a Slytherin,” frowned Ginny.

“Anything form the trolley, ladies?” The two of them looked over to the elderly woman who had just opened up their compartment. In front of the door was a trolley laden with all sorts of sweets and refreshment. Ginny stared hungrily at the chocolate frogs and licorice wands, but knowing she didn’t have the money to spend on this kind of thing, she just smiled and shook her head.

“Two chocolate frogs, please!” It didn’t surprise Ginny that Luna had money to spare for sweets—most people apart from her family did. “Here you are.” Ginny found herself staring at Luna incredulously. “My Mum always said it was better to share.”

“Thank you.” So, Luna was strange, what did it matter? She was nice and friendly. She opened up her box, completely prepared for the frog to hop out and try to get away, not that it was very hard to catch the in the first place.

“Good catch,” smiled Luna. “Help me with mine? I always miss.” Ginny nodded and stuck her chocolate frog into her mouth, savoring the sweet taste of chocolate slowly beginning to melt on her tongue as Luna pried open her box. “Ah!” The bewitched frog slipped through her slender fingers and Ginny lunged forward to grab Luna’s frog. “Thank you!”

Ginny merely nodded and properly bit off a chunk and chewed it. Mmm. Chocolate! They so rarely got sweets back in The Burrow unless it was a holiday or their dad was in a particularly good mood. Glancing down at her card, she saw that it was Merlin. She had plenty of those already, but Luna’s earlier comment had her curious. Picking up the card, she read over the miniscule text describing Merlin, but it said nothing about him being a Slytherin. “Who did you get?”

“Morgan le Fay,” answered Luna a little gleefully.

“You haven’t gotten her yet?” That was surprising. Morgana was a pretty common card.

A shake of the head. “This is my tenth one.” Curiosity got the better of her, so Ginny asked why she was so excited to have another one then. “Well, it’s the first Morgan le Fay I’ve gotten with you.”

Ginny nearly choked on her next piece of chocolate. “W-What? Why would that be important?”

“I’ve never gotten cards with anybody my age before, so this one is different from the others.”

All Ginny could manage was a soft, “Oh.” Swallowing down the remnants of the chocolate that had lodged itself in her throat, she tried to change the topic to something less heavy—even though Luna seemed completely unperturbed by all of this. “You said Merlin was a Slytherin?”

“Oh yes, he was.” Again, Ginny pressed for information. And again, Luna gave her a very straightforward and simple answer, sometimes slipping in tidbits of other things that Ginny invariably wound up asking about later. Their conversation for the rest of the train ride proceeded in this fashion. Ginny would ask a question and Luna would answer back plainly or with a counter question of her own. Sometimes she made sense, most times Ginny had to think outside of just her words to really understand what she was saying. By the end of the trip she had gotten used to Luna’s quirkiness and found she rather liked it. It was different, but different good.

“You know, Luna, you’re a bit odd.” As soon as the words escaped her she had very nearly clasped a hand over her mouth. Shoot! She hadn’t meant to say that out loud!

But Luna merely cocked her head to the side, gray eyes fixated on her. Ginny found herself holding her breath. “You’re a little odd too, Ginny,” she smiled. They had broken off into a bit of giggling and laughing again after that. 


	2. The Black Lake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Hagrid's speech looks familiar here it's because its from Philosopher's Stone.

“Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here!” called out a large, booming voice Ginny could only assume belonged to Hagrid. “C’mon, follow me—any more fir’ years? Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here!” Hagrid was definitely as big as her brothers had said he was. He towered over them and lead them over to the lake, away from the other students who seemed to be going off in an opposite direction. “Mind yer step, now! Firs’ years follow me!”

It wasn’t hard to figure out where Hagrid was as he kept on calling out for the first years to follow after him. The tricky part was navigating their way down the steep, slippery slope. More than once Ginny had had to throw out a hand or an arm to catch Luna as she slipped. “You okay?” she asked after what must have been the tenth time she’d caught Luna, only this time around she had started slipping with her.

“Yes,” smiled Luna, her smile barely detectable under the dim lighting of the stars.

They helped each other back up and trotted after Hagrid, listening for his voice and keeping an eye out for his lantern. At long last they came to a halt, but Ginny was too busy helping Luna up again that she missed whatever it was Hagrid had been saying. The various ooohs and ahhhs from the other first year students quickly filled her in though and she looked forward to where the castle was. It was breathtaking.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” asked Luna, breath tickling against her cheek. Ginny could only nod. She had heard about Hogwarts plenty of times from her brothers and parents, but nothing they had ever told her could describe this moment.

“Now, no more’n four to a boat!” Ginny tore her eyes off the glittering castle and towards the bobbing lantern belonging to Hagrid. It was then that she realized the slope had come to a gentle halt and rolled out into a shore with dark waters quietly lapping at its edges. It took them all a moment in the half dark to find a boat to claim as their own, even longer to climb inside of it. Hagrid didn’t seem to have any trouble with it, but it seemed most of the other students were having a great deal of difficulty figuring out how to get in without tripping over themselves or getting splashed on.

Ginny took Luna by the hand and went over to one of the boats that seemed to be closer to the shore and not wobbling as much. Instead of trying to climb into it, she figured jumping into the boat would work out far better. It was a bit of a rough landing, but she managed to get in without getting wet so she considering it a success. Grinning, she went over to Luna, holding out a hand to her. “Come on, Loony!”

She eyed her hand for a moment, took a breath, and then walked forward, reaching out for her hand. It had been a good idea in her head, but as it turned out, Luna was a bit difficult to pull into the boat all by herself. “This is a lot harder than I thought it’d be…” panted Ginny.

“Sorry,” apologized Luna as she finally toppled into the boat next to her. “But I imagine a lot of things are harder than people think they are,” smiled Luna, helping Ginny to her feet only to nearly fall over in the process.

Laughing, Ginny helped her to sit on one of the benches. “There’s no need to be sorry. I should’ve known better than to try to pull you in myself.”

“Now how could you have known that if you hadn’t tried?”

“Ah, hey, you mind?” Ginny turned around to see a girl with dark red hair standing next to another blonde. “Riza here is a bit scared of water.”

Ginny and Luna looked at each other for a moment and then threw out their hands. The blonde girl, Riza, took their hands. Her palms were already slick with sweat and when the water began to pool about her feet she let out a small shriek and immediately let go. “S-Sorry,” she muttered. But Ginny and Luna just shrugged it off and kept their hands outstretched for hers. This time, the other girl placed a hand on her back and gave her an encouraging push.

She landed in the boat with a yelp and immediately clung to Luna as the boat lurched and swayed from the sudden movement. Straightening up, Ginny turned back to the other girl. “Are you okay, or do you need some help too?”

Grinning, the other girl took a few paces back and then proceeded to try jumping into the boat too, tackling them all as she landed and causing Riza to shriek again as the boat rocked to and fro dangerously for a few seconds. “Kokoro!” cried Riza, swatting her on the shoulder. “You did that on purpose!”

But before Kokoro could respond, Hagrid had shouted out, “Everyone in? Right then—FORWARD!” The boat groaned and for a second it seemed like they wouldn’t move, then all of a sudden it lurched forward and began to glide across the lake. Riza, who was still tangled around Luna, didn’t seem to care that they weren’t sitting in the boat properly and buried her head into Luna’s shoulder, her screams mildly muted.

“Sorry, Riza,” apologized Kokoro. Together, she and Ginny managed to help Luna arrange herself a little more comfortably in the boat against the side. Kokoro sat on the bench towards the back and patted Riza on the back while Ginny took to the one up front. “Shhh, it’ll be fine Riza. I’m sure the boats are spelled so we can’t actually fall out of them.”

“You don’t know that!” she whimpered, clinging ever tighter to Luna who seemed to be quite intrigued by this turn of events, judging by how wide her eyes had gone, and didn't seem to mind Riza trying to squeeze the life out of her. “What if the boat tips over?” As if it had been reading her mind, there was a little hiccup and the wooden boat roughly rose up, soaring through the air for all of two seconds before plopping back down—during which Riza must have rendered Luna deaf because Ginny certainly thought she was.

“A _bit_ scared of water?!” shouted Ginny over Riza’s screaming.

Kokoro, who had stopped patting Riza on the back and currently had both hands over each of her ears, winced and shrugged. “Yeah, I might’ve lied ‘bout that!”

“ _Might’ve_?!” The two of them broke out into grins and started laughing a second later.

“Awful! That’s what you two are,” sniffed Riza. “It’s not funny! We could’ve died.”

“It was funny though,” mused Luna quietly, which had Kokoro staring and then laughing again. “See? They laughed, so it was funny.” Riza look utterly offended, but soon her face was buried in Luna’s shoulder again as the boat pitched once more. “But I must admit, this is a little scary.”

Ginny thought it was pretty fun actually. Little bit like flying. Still, she went to take Luna’s hand to give it a gentle squeeze and Kokoro went back to patting Riza on the back, trying to soothe her fears. Soon enough, with every little jump the boat made, they were all screaming—except for Luna who just had this giant smile on her face. It seemed Kokoro had the same mind as her: they were absolutely delighted that this boat ride across the lake was so fun and screaming with delight whenever the boat skipped.


	3. The Sorting Ceremony

“You lot really are awful,” grumbled Riza as Professor McGonagall left them. “Laughing…” She shook her head and crossed her arms in disdain. “That was hardly appropriate!” A few students nearby looked over and then started laughing, pointing fingers, clearly making fun of them, Riza in particular.

Kokoro stepped over to block their view from Riza. “Aw, come on, Riza, it was fun. The boat ride, I mean, not you being scared.” Riza gave her a death glare that even Ginny was impressed with and her brothers had crowned her the queen of death glares and stink eyes. “Oh, relax, will you? There’s no more water planned for the night, I think, ‘less you want to take a bath tonight.” A gleam entered Kokoro’s soft yellow eyes then. “Say… Riza, are you scared of taking baths then?”

Riza’s response was to profusely claim that she wasn’t and to start lightly slapping Kokoro on the arm, but Kokoro just laughed and pretended to have been hurt bad. “… Um, I am sorry about the lake though,” murmured Riza, focusing on Luna in particularly.

“Whatever for?” asked Luna. “It kept the Garglepuffs away. They hate loud things, you know.”

Riza and Kokoro stared at Luna, mouths agape. “Ah, so I’m Ginny Weasley.”

“Uh… right… Riza Chase,” started Riza slowly, looking away from Luna and meeting her gaze. “Nice to meet you and sorry again about all the screaming… I had a bad experience with water when I was little.”

“Mhm… So, you’re a Weasley after all. I thought you were, but I didn’t want to presume. Kokoro Kireme.” Ginny was a little vexed, but she took it in stride seeing as Kokoro hadn’t made fun of her and hadn’t even assumed she was a Weasley after all. The two of them turned to Luna expectantly who merely sent smiles at them.

“Luna Lovegood,” explained Ginny. The air slowly began to grow awkward again, but by then Professor McGonagall had come back and was whisking them inside the Great Hall now. The four of them filed in after each other, Kokoro trailing after Riza with Luna and Ginny taking up the rear. She let out a sharp breath of air as she took in the Great Hall. Again, her brothers had explained it a thousand times over to her, but it paled in comparison to seeing it for herself.

They pooled around an area in front of the professors’ table where Professor McGonagall had set down a stool with a tattered old hat on top of it. She scanned the room and soon found the Gryffindor table where all of her brothers were. Well. Almost all of them. Ron and Harry were nowhere to be found. She wondered where they were, but before she could dwell on it for long a sort of coughing began from the professors’ table. It took her a moment, but she soon realized it wasn’t a professor coughing, but the old hat on the stool.

_The privilege of sorting you all is mine,_

_And I’ll sort you all just fine._

_Loyal and brave you may be,_

_Sorted into Gryffindor we’ll see._

_Hard work and fair play may reside in your eye,_

_Perhaps Hufflepuff is where you lie._

_With knowledge and wit hard to ignore,_

_Placed in Ravenclaw you’ll explore._

_If cunning and ambition haunts you so,_

_Into Slytherin you may go._

_Perhaps you’ll think I’ll sort you wrong,_

_But I’ve always been right all along._

_Welcome my young wizards and witches,_

_To Hogwarts where you’ll behold many riches._

And then Professor McGonagall was calling out names and the hat was being set on their heads. For some it lingered, but for others it had barely touched the crowns of their head when it loudly called out a house name. “Chase, Riza!” called out Professor McGonagall. The hat settled on Riza’s short blonde hair and lingered for a moment before calling out, “SLYTHERIN!”

It shocked Ginny and she turned to Luna, but Luna was applauding with the others and waving at Riza as if it didn’t matter. She was reminded of their chat during the train and started clapping herself, albeit a little slowly as if she was just coming out of a stunning charm. Slytherins could be good. Not all Slytherins were bad. By the time Riza had been settled among the other Slytherins, a boy named Colin Creevey had been called to the stool. The hat barely lingered before crying out, “GRYFFINDOR!”

They moved on through the list and then there was a “Kireme, Kokoro!” Like it had with Colin, the hat didn’t stay on Kokoro’s head for long before it shouted, “SLYTHERIN!” She was less surprised this time around and was clapping right alongside Luna. Kokoro gave her a small smile as if to apologize as she stepped down off the platform and went to sit among the other Slytherins.

“Lovegood, Luna!” Luna looked to her a moment and surprisingly took her hand for a split second before going up. The hat seemed to stay in place for a few seconds before going, “RAVENCLAW!” Luna gave her a wave before skipping off to the Ravenclaws.

Ginny clapped enthusiastically as the others got sorted, the hat sitting atop of a boy’s head for nearly ten seconds before going “HUFFLEPUFF!” and letting Professor McGonagall continue going down the list. Soon, she was the only one left that needed to be sorted. A little mechanically, she went up to the platform and sat down on the stool. The hat fell over her head and covered her eyes. Gingerly, she opened her eyes and saw the tattered, almost threadbare fabric and the faint glow of the candles.

Then suddenly there was a voice, right inside her head and she tensed. “Ooh, another Weasley?” She was a little dismayed at that, but was more concerned with why she was hearing a voice inside her head to really care. “Another Gryffindor, I think, yes? Clever, talented girl though. Maybe Ravenclaw?” She jumped at that. Luna was in Ravenclaw… “And rather hard-working too. Very loyal. Hufflepuff would be good too.” Ick. Hufflepuff? Not that she had anything against Hufflepuff, but she had never really fancied herself as a Hufflepuff. “Quite ambitious too, I see. Perhaps Slytherin, then?” Merlin’s beard, no! Anything but that! Well… actually… Riza and Kokoro had been quite nice and they were Slytherins… She was quite surprised that the hat thought she could be in any of the houses, but in the end, she figured herself more a Gryffindor than anything else. Too bad she didn’t get to choose though. “GRYFFINDOR!”

She wondered how long that had lasted as the hat came off her head and she all but ran to the Gryffindor table. Not very long it seemed when Fred and George commented that she hadn’t even needed to put on the hat. A Weasley was always a Gryffindor, the hat and everybody else had figured that out in a heartbeat! They didn’t mention a thing about the hat speaking to them, so Ginny half wondered if it had all just been imagined in her head because of nerves or something.

As they were finally allowed to eat, she found herself looking over to the blue and bronze table of Ravenclaw where she caught Luna’s eyes. They smiled to one another and Ginny half wished she had been sorted into Ravenclaw instead. It would’ve been nice to be able to talk to Luna and stay up all night with her talking about classes that would start tomorrow. She would’ve liked to turn around to see how Riza and Kokoro were doing at the Slytherin table, but she didn’t particularly feel like explaining to Fred and George who would undoubtedly notice if she did so. And just where _were_ Ron and Harry?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. The sorting hat song is my own creation. If it looks mildly familiar for some reason you may have seen it on my old [inactive] devinatart account [no will not link you] from years ago because... huh okay so I lied this is my SECOND HP fic, but my first actual legit HP fic I'm semi-serious about and care about... and..... 
> 
> OH right. I like to imagine the sorting hat kind of talks to everybody, especially those people who aren't really all that sure about what house they want to be in to like get a feel for who they are and what they want because hey they're eleven and maybe gryffindor just looks cool but ew no I am not a brave person put me somewhere else oo yeah I am totally a loyal kinda person, put me there! and all the people the hat talks to arent entirely sure if the hat was really talking to them or not so they kind of just dont mention that the hat [maybe] spoke to them during the sorting ceremony and maybe mentioned these two houses to choose between or let them choose between all four because really every student that attends hogwarts could be in any bloody house because they all got the needed requirements and its just up to them to choose (and boooooy were the founders kind of tickled pink when they discovered the great magics they had put on the hat to sort people was simply just letting the hat speak and help students figure out what kinda person they thought they were at 11 well okay salazar probably wasnt but everyone else probably was and omg now i wanna fic this and i needa stop)


	4. A Late Summer Moon

Ginny is alone in her room, something she hasn’t done since May—being alone that is—and finds it all too strange and unnerving. She doesn’t last longer than a minute before she’s hurriedly throwing open her bedroom door and going downstairs. She joins Ron in a game of wizard’s chess when George throws up his hands in defeat and goes outside for a bit of flying.

“Ginny, you want to play some Quidditch?” asked George, pausing for a moment and much to everyone’s surprise she declines. "You sure?"

“I promised Ron a game,” she shrugs. She forces herself to look down at the chessboard and misses how Ron and Fred share a concerned look for a moment before George makes a noise and trudges outside. “I’ll play black.”

“You sure?”

“I said I’d play black…”

“Okay, okay, just making sure, you know,” grumbled Ron, switching the pieces with her.

They play in silence—quite the shocker given how passionate Ron can be about wizard’s chess and how Ginny normally is—and Molly even pops her head in from time to time. It worries her to see Ginny so reserved. Once upon a time she had wished Ginny would take a break from her brothers and learn to be a bit more ladylike and not so rough and tough, but right now she’d give anything for the daughter who ran through the house, toppling books and chairs over and banging the front door to go flying at dizzying speeds just to chuck a ball through a basket and get knocked off her broom into the mud and end up laughing about the whole matter.

She gives Ron pointed looks and Ron just gives his mother a sort of _what? What am I supposed to do?_ kind of reaction and all she can do sigh and shake her head. They’ve all tried, but Ginny just pushes them away and refuses to talk about it, so they give her the space she’s asking for. They press the matter from time to time, but Ginny goes quiet or slips out of the room when nobody’s looking when they do. So, they try as best as they can to give her space and help her, but honestly, Molly’s a bit more than worried now and doesn’t know what to do.

The trip to Egypt had been nice and Ginny had been all smiles and laughs. Bill had been good to Ginny, treating her like nothing had happened and she had had half a mind to leave Ginny with him for the next year, but curse-breaking was difficult, dangerous magic and well… given what had happened she didn’t think it very wise to let Ginny linger. Now though, with the next term approaching and Ginny still the same as ever, she was beginning to think that maybe she should’ve let Ginny stay after all and work through whatever it was that was troubling her. Bill had told them all to be patient and kind, but dealing with dark magic wasn’t exactly their area of expertise, no matter their participation in the war beforehand. That had been different. This was… this was new and scary and she wanted to cry half the time, but she couldn’t when she needed to be strong for her little girl and show everything was going to be okay and that they most certainly still loved her and didn’t blame her in the slightest.

Fred comes down the stairs yawning and goes quiet as he sees Ginny playing with Ron by the window. He quietly enters the kitchen and looks at this mother who just gives him a soft, sad sort of look. “Where’s George?”

“Outside. Flying I think,” she sighs. “Has she said anything?”

“No, Mum.” Fred bites his tongue for a moment. “I’m sorry, Mum.”

“For what, Fred?”

“For not watching Ginny…” He’s staring down at the floor and Molly can see the guilt and the same in his eyes and recalls how the previous year she had told the twins they better look out for their sister and that she was their responsibility.

“Oh Fred, it’s not your fault. It never was. Your father and I never blamed you. Or George. Or Percy. Or even Ron. Or Ginny. It was an accident and accidents happen.” She drew in her son for a very long, tight hug. She could’ve sworn she felt tears against her cheeks and on her shoulder, but when they pulled apart, Fred was dry eyed. “What do you want for lunch, dear?”

“Anything’s fine, Mum,” mumbled Fred and Molly didn’t miss how his voice seemed thicker and heavier than normal. She knew nothing she said would help to ease the pain he was feeling so she just smiled at him and told him to run along and fetch his brother.

She pops her head into the room again. The youngest are nearly done with their game so she goes upstairs to knock on Percy’s door. “Percy, lunch is almost ready.”

There’s a great deal of shuffling inside before the door is opened and Percy stands there, eyes a little bloodshot. “Is it lunch already?” he asks. Out of all of them he seems to have bounced back the quickest, but Molly can tell. He’s torn up about this too. He hides it well, but as his mother she knows his tells all too well. “I’ll be down in a bit.”

“Percy…” she begins, lips pursed. “It’s not your fault.”

Percy pauses, mid turn. “I… I… it _was_ my fault.”

“Percy, I know you were the eldest there and a Prefect, but—”

“Mum, please don’t.” Molly stands there frozen for a moment. This is the first-time Percy’s every really interrupted her. He had always been the most well behaved of the lot, if not a bit of a stickler for the rules. “Just don’t,” he sighs, sinking into his chair. “You don’t know what happened.”

Molly treads with caution and nods. “No. I don’t know, but even if I did, I wouldn’t blame a single one of you. You’re all still young and that was very, _very_ powerful dark magic.”

“Yes, but…” And then Percy trailed off, going quiet. “I just… NEWTs are really taking a toll on me, Mum.”

“Percy.” But Percy’s pushed her towards the door and shut it and Molly knows better than to try to pry anything out of him now. For a moment, she just stands there, back against his door and closes her eyes. She doesn’t know what to do.

Bill’s dealing with curses and it’s always a nightmare to think about what could go wrong with his work. And then there’s Charlie and his work with dragons which is grand and all but just as dangerous as curse breaking and she can’t help but worry. And now there’s Percy with his secrets he’s conflicted over talking about that seems to be eating him up inside, who she thought she’d _never_ have to worry about. There’s Fred and George, of course, with their usual antics and tendency to get into trouble no matter what kind of empty room you tried to lock them up inside of.

And Ron, oh Ronald, it was _wonderful_ that he and Harry were best friends, but those two together seemed to get into more trouble than anyone was supposed to in all their lifetimes combined and Harry was like a second son to her too. Then there was their muggle friend, Hermione. She was only beginning to get to know the girl, but she had a hunch she was going to be like a daughter to her too and sure this muggle seemed to have a _very_ sound head on her shoulders, but… being around Harry meant wonton trouble that appeared out of thin air like wildfire. Now there was this whole Chamber of Secrets mess with Ginny…

“Mum!” Brought out of her troubles, she peered out over the stairs. “Do we have room for one more?!” asked George.

Molly’s eyes went to the blonde-haired girl standing next to George quietly taking everything in. She didn’t like this. The Lovegoods were… had become questionable. “Yes, of course!” she called out, hurrying downstairs to set the table.

Ginny turns to look at her brother when she hears him mentioning setting the table for one more. She thinks it’s Harry for a moment and is about to bolt until she realizes Ron is still sitting in his chair, looking at the board. Married to wizard’s chess or not, Ron tended to drop everything when Harry came to visit. Her doubletiming heart slows as it spies pale, blonde hair instead of dark, black hair. She manages a tentative, “Luna” as she gets up to greet the girl she had once had plans on being good friends with. She imagines after how last year went Luna wouldn’t want anything to do with her, whether she knew the truth about what had happened or not.

Honestly, she’s dreading going back to school and wishes she didn’t have to. She knows that if she asks, her mother would be more than happy to home school her, but she can’t bear the idea of spending a year with her mother either. She would eventually try to pry and they’d get into a fight and they’d both end up feeling worse and nothing would be fixed.

She stiffens as unfamiliar arms wrap themselves about her. “Ginny!” It’s Luna who’s enveloped her in a hug and her voice is eerily jovial. When she pulls away a moment later, there’s a smile on her face and Ginny’s too stunned to do anything until Fred prods her and she catches George’s raised eye.

“Luna…”

“You said that already,” points out Luna. Ginny’s quiet and just nods. “Your brothers said something about lunch?” prompted Luna. “Are you not joining us?” It sounds so innocent and sweet and there’s no lingering unasked question to it, just a simple _are you eating or not_ and Ginny just nods again. “Do you have a Gazzleshell?”

“Gazzleshell…?” quipped Fred and George.

“They keep the Gazzledooks away. They like to steal food, you know.”

“… Right…” muttered Fred and George dryly as Ron just stared.

But Ginny’s laughing, a real laugh and she realizes Luna doesn’t care at all and that it doesn’t matter to her. “Come on, Loo, you can check for me. I’m not sure if we have one. Are Gazzledooks dangerous?” she asks, taking her by the arm and showing her the kitchen.

“Oh no, they just like to steal food,” explained Luna. “They’re not dangerous at all, but if there’s a lot of food lying around you can be sure to find a Gazzledooks unless you’ve got a Gazzleshell lying around.”

“What does a Gazzleshell look like?”

“It’s a funny thing really. Gazzleshell. You’d think it’d have a shell, but it doesn’t.”

“Really?”

Ginny can’t help but smile as Luna goes on to explain what exactly a Gazzleshell looks like along with what Gazzledooks like to steal the most and how they’ll never take chocolate frogs for some odd reason or other—something she and her father are trying to figure out. It turns out they don’t have a Gazzleshell and Luna offers to find her one—to which her mother tersely declines—and Ginny gently explains her mother would rather take her chances with the Gazzledooks. Ron is still staring and likely wants to say something stupid, but Fred and George have taken to it like water and loudly talk over him when he’s about to say something rude to Luna. Percy does eventually come down and hotly argues with Luna over Gazzledooks and Nargles and Garglepuffs. For once Ron takes Percy’s side and that’s when Percy decides to end things because if Ron’s agreeing with him then the world’s ending or this is a crazy dream and he’s going to go back to his room where stuff makes sense.

Molly really doesn’t approve, but when Luna manages to make her Ginny laugh and smile, she finds herself making silent apologies and considering giving the Lovegoods a second chance. They’ve all been trying for over a month now to get Ginny back to some semblance of herself and here comes along Luna and in less than hour she’s managed to get Ginny back to herself completely because after lunch is over Ginny challenges the boys to a Quidditch game with Luna on her team. Fred and George immediately agree, reckoning they’ll beat the girls twice over. Ron proudly declares he’s going to win the game since nobody’ll be able to get a shot past him.

“Is Quidditch very hard?” whispers Luna to Ginny at one point.

“Well, not really, no. Why?”

“Well I’ve never played and you said we’d beat Fred and George easy.”

“Don’t worry. Just make sure I have the ball and we’ll win for sure!”

The twins throw arms about their shoulders. “What’s this? New to Quidditch, are you, Lovegood?”

Luna doesn’t hesitate to respond with a very loud and proud, “Yep!”

“Don’t worry. It’s easy. Not even using bludgers!”

“What are bludgers?” And Ginny smacks herself in the face as she realizes Luna doesn’t even know how Quidditch works. And that’s when Ron eagerly goes in to start explaining how Quiddicth works in fine detail.

“Ron…” starts Ginny.

“What?” He stops mid explanation to look over at Ginny. “I’m only teaching her how it works.”

“Wouldn’t you know it, Fred?”

“Yeah, George, who knew?”

“Knew what?!” demanded Ron.

“You _can_ be a Percy after all,” they chorused, causing Ron to get red in the face for a moment before he ends up laughing with his siblings.

Next to her, Ginny notices Luna’s mildly confused expression and quickly explains, to which Luna bursts out laughing. It’s late, but Ginny just smiles while her brothers look on a bit perplexed because the joke’s done and over with and one _shouldn’t_ be laughing about it, still, but they put on small smiles too. Ron jumps back into his explanation, but Fred and George each take him by the arm and drag him off.

“Sorry about that.”

“Sorry about what?”

“For Ron. And Fred. And George. And Percy. … And Mum.” Luna just stares at her with wide, questioning eyes though. “You don’t really have to pay attention to what Ron told you. The basics are—” But Luna cuts her off and expertly explains how Quidditch works. “… Wow. If you were a boy I think I could kiss you,” jokes Ginny.

“Is that a good thing?”

Ginny blinks and then giggles lightly. “Yes. It is. Did you really understand everything Ron told you?”

“Most of it, yes,” nodded Luna. “But a few things were a little confusing. Like the Transylvanian Tackle? How can Transylvania tackle something?”

“Didn’t he tell you it was the name of a tactic?” Luna shook her head. “Oh, well there are some moves you can do in Quidditch and they’re named all sorts of things like the Dionysus Dive or Parkin’s Pincer.”

“Oo.” She was reminded then of the train ride last year with Luna where she listened with rapt attention as Luna went on about her creatures and thoughts on the Hogwarts Houses. The tables had turned now and she was very much aware of how Luna’s eyes remained fixated on her as she explained some of her more favorite techniques.

“Can you ride a broom…?” asks Ginny as they finally reach the orchard where they played Quidditch. George had left the brooms by the field form his flying earlier so there had been little need to visit the broom shed first. Without Bill and Charlie around, they always had an extra broom or two, plus the various old repaired ones they had that were still mildly functional—just _very_ risky to ride, and that was putting it lightly.

“Of course, don’t you remember?” Ginny blinks. She doesn’t know what Luna’s talking about. “When we were little my Mum bought me a toy broomstick.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember,” commented Fred. “The Lovegoods practically begged Mum and Dad to let you and Luna have a play date and between their begging and your pleading and Dad being okay with it, Mum had to give in.”

“Yeah, and they showed up on the doorstep with Luna holding his little toy broomstick and you practically grabbed it from her hands,” continued George.

“What? Did not! I wouldn’t do that!”

“You totally would,” grinned Ron. “I remember how you always took my chocolate frogs from me and Dad had to make you share half of it with me.”

Ginny looked to Luna for support, but Luna wasn’t refuting any of this. “Yes, and everyone was so worried I would start crying, but I just ran after you and watched as you flew around in circles!”

“Why don’t I remember this?”

“Well you were only three or four,” shrugged the twins.

“But Luna remembers!”

“And you’ve fallen off a broom how many times?” grinned Fred as he mounted his broom and kicked off from the ground.

Ginny glowered at him, but it didn’t last long. “Come on, Luna, let’s show them what we’re made of!”

“Well skin and bones and—”

“It’s a figure of speech, Loo. Which broom do you want?”

“Ohh, I see. Which one do you recommend?” And Ginny pointed her over to one of the brooms that was more stable and less likely to ignore its rider’s commands. It wasn’t until Luna was safely on and circling the air around her for a solid minute and a half that she mounted her broom and joined the rest of them up in the sky. “This is fun.”

“I thought you said you knew how to ride a broom?”

“We took Flying class last year.” Oh. Right. They had. Or at least Ginny thinks they had. Honestly, first year had been such a blur. Apart from the beginning of term and the end of term everything else was hazy and she wondered just how much of it was a nightmare and how much of it was the awful truth. Her momentary down was quickly erased as George tossed their makeshift Quaffle at her.

“Ladies first!” he called out, zooming out to other side of the field. “We’ll start when Ron calls it!” he shouted and then immediately began to chat with Fred about their game plan no doubt.

The game went by quickly and before they knew it the sunlight was fading. The twins had undoubtedly chosen to go easy on them first, but when Luna made it clear that just because she was new to this, she wasn’t entirely useless, they started to play a little harder. She had a surprisingly good sense of what the twins would try to do and reacted very well—she just lacked the experience to really be able to pull it off. But Ginny was a fast learner and she and Luna had begun to sync themselves together so Fred and George were finding it a surprising challenge to keep being devious.

“I reckon she might be our lost triplet, George,” breathed Fred at one point when Luna completely saw through their fake.

Ron was having fun too. His boasting wasn’t just out of selfish pride. He _was_ a pretty fair keeper and it was only when they hard started to wind him that he finally started to miss by a longshot. They teased him for that, Luna even joining in once which had surprised even Ginny, but Ron had taken it well and teased them all right back. As they all agreed it’d be more fun flying back to the broom shed than walking, they circled down to collect the extra brooms and then made a race of it. Ginny found herself surprisingly happy and was asking Luna to drop by again before she realized what she was doing.

“You think Mum will be okay with it…?”

The twins each tossed an arm over her shoulder and tousled her hair. “Of course, Ginny! And if she says no _we’ll_ sneak her over.”

“Yeah. Luna’s not so bad. If Mum can stand Harry, she can stand Luna,” agreed Ron a little shyly. Out of all of them he had been the slowest to accept Luna, but after their game he seemed a lot more open to having Luna around. He still thought she was weird—to which Ginny made faces and sent him her worse stink eyes—but he wasn’t being a prat about it, so she supposed she could forgive him.

Luna had been all smiles and hugged each of them in turn before saying goodbye to their mother and heading back home. Of course, their mother wouldn’t have it for Luna to go back alone so she made Fred and George walk her back. Ginny wanted to go too, but when her mother said no she knew better than to try and force it. Ron and Ginny stayed downstairs for a bit until finally left to go upstairs, wanting to write Harry and tell him about today.

Ginny hovered in the kitchen, half wondering why her mother didn’t seem to like Luna and half wanting to ask right then and there. Her mother made light inquiries as to what had happened—both today and last year—but Ginny avoided answering those. She became quiet again and was surprised to find her mother apologizing to her. “M-Mum you don’t have to apologize for anything…”

“I know, but you aren’t ready yet, and I keep prying. Oh, I try not to, but I can’t help it dearie, I’m worried about you,” she explains, fingers twitching lightly as if she was trying to knit something. Ginny knows it as a sign of her mother wanting to hug her, but for once being able to control herself because she’s not sure if a hug is what she wants or needs right now.

“I’m the one who should apologize,” sighs Ginny, sitting down and drawing up her knees. “I… I’m not okay…” And it’s strange, so strange how saying that out loud lifts a dragon off her shoulders and Ginny doesn’t mind talking a little more. “… But I… I’m not… I…” She stops and takes in a deep, shaky breath. “I’m not… sure if… I’m ready… to talk about this…” Hesitantly, she looks up to her mother who just gives her a nod and surprisingly says nothing and does nothing. “I don’t remember some things… and I don’t know if that’s because… because of the diary or… me…” Another look only to find her mother still not saying a thing, but she’s taken to clasping her hands together very tightly. “I don’t mean to push you all away… I just… I just don’t know how to explain… or act or anything, really.”

It’s only after several minutes have passed that she starts talking. “Well… that’s… good. To hear about what you’ve been thinking and feeling.” Ginny sees how her mother’s knuckles have grown white. “Take your time, sweetie. It’s perfectly okay. It doesn’t have to… to be me you talk to. Just talk to someone, please. Promise me that much?” She manages to meet her mother’s eyes and nods. “Good. That’s good. And if you want help with this, you just say the word. Don’t worry about expenses. We’ll manage. Your father and I have always found a way. I-If you want a healer or someone, we’ll find one. There’s no right or wrong way to explain it or act either, Ginny. Just be you.”

“Mum. It’s okay. You can hug me.” And that’s all it takes for Molly to leap forward and wrap her up in a tight hug where she’s enveloped by the comforting scents of wild herbs and smoke. She doesn’t want it to end. It reminds her too much of when she didn’t go to Hogwarts and spent the day with her mother learning all the family recipes or out in the garden learning all the herbs and how to tell them apart from weeds. Of days when there were no mysterious diaries with sweet words tricking her. When a black haired, glass wearing boy with a scar on his forehead hadn’t stolen her heart and broken it to pieces.

But, a tiny voice in her starts and for a moment she’s afraid that it’s Riddle and that he never really left. But, the voice continues, you did meet Luna. And Riza. And Kokoro. And you flew across that lake. You learned a Slytherin could be a friend. (And a Gryffindor could be an enemy, but that part was very muffled.) Was it all so bad? There was some good in it too, wasn’t there? Was it really worth forgetting and running away from?

So, Ginny slowly and inevitably releases her. There’s a moment of silence between them where she can tell her mother wants to do or say something, but she’s holding back. She doesn’t understand why though and she doesn’t think she can ask either, so they stand there staring. “Molly, I’m home!” calls out her father and they both jump and blink. Ginny murmurs something about setting the table and busies herself getting the table ready for dinner. It’s nice, distracting work because it requires just enough attention that her mind can’t wander.

The rest of the summer passes by in ups and down. Luna visits. It’s gradual at first, but it soon becomes commonplace to see Luna downstairs with Ginny or up in her room. She’s certainly… different… but Ginny likes her and she makes Ginny laugh and smile. She makes the others laugh and smile too and they’re all, quite honestly, not sure what to make of Luna, but she really is a nice girl, eccentrics aside. Fred and George have sort of already secretly, not so secretly, adopted Luna as a sister. Percy and Ron agree she’s a bit loony—which Ginny absolutely forbids them from using—but Percy can’t deny that apart from conversations about existence of certain magical creatures Luna’s brilliant while Ron’s practically in love with her ability to analyze Quidditch plays.

Sometimes after Luna leaves Ginny finds herself quietly beginning to try to explain the past year to someone—usually her mother, but other times its Fred and George, Percy even from time to time, and of course Ron. She writes to Bill and Charlie too, when she can gather her thoughts well enough to form words. She tries to write a letter to Harry too, but Harry is… Harry is a completely different kind of mess and she doesn’t want to think about it. At all. In any way. Whatsoever.

It isn’t that she’s still in love with him—okay, she is, but that’s not all of it or even the majority of it. It’s just… the whole Riddle wanting to kill Harry, having tried to kill Harry, killed his parents, possessing her, ugh whatever the hell that mess was… it’s all very hard to sort out. And Harry notices her now. Like _actually_ notices her. And that’s confusing too. And she sort of gets how Harry feels—the whole being stared at and whispered about part anyway. Because she remembers. In bits and pieces. The middle of the year is still unfocused and blurry in most places, but the beginning and end aren’t. The end of the year has become clearer to her and the whispers and pointing and staring stand out.

She just wants to deal with Riddle and the diary possessing her first. Sometimes she wakes up at night and she just remembers and she’s screaming and crying. Sometimes she doesn’t remember and it’s just screaming and crying. Sometimes she can’t even cry at all. It’s a strange sort of emptiness. It helps when Luna sleeps over. She doesn’t mind the screaming or the crying or the babbling. She doesn’t ask her for an explanation. She doesn’t ask her anything. She’s just _there_. There isn’t pity or worry hiding in her eyes. She’s just Luna. And she’s just Ginny.

It helps. Sometimes she asks why she cries, but it isn’t really about _why_ just why cry? And one night when Luna asks she half answers with, “It’s not like I can just go flying, can I?” and Luna takes her by the wrist and they slip out of The Burrow and into the broom shed where Luna can’t pick the lock for anything. So Ginny has to do it and it takes a few tries because she’s too hurt and confused and tired to do it right the first couple of times. It calms her down a little. She hands Luna a broom and goes back to get herself one when Luna stops her with a, “You can’t fly by yourself, not like that!” and they end up riding double.

They don’t go very far. Sometimes they just sit and hover above the broom shed or The Burrow. But it’s nice. There’s wind on her face and blowing through hair. It feels real and she can control it. If she wants to climb higher, she can. If she wants to go back down, she can. Or she can hover there in the air. It’s her choice and it’s all very real. It’s not just a dream. She can feel it. She knows where she is and what she’s doing. It certainly beats crying. It’s a lot better than crying, actually. So when Luna isn’t there at night sometimes Ginny sneaks out flying instead of crying. Sometimes she visits Luna. Luna’s hard to wake most nights, but she always wakes up eventually. Sometimes Luna joins her. Sometimes it’s just to wave at her and she stays snuggled up in bed with her blankets with a sleepy smile until she leaves.

When Harry inevitably arrives, Ginny runs away to Luna’s. It’s only for a day, but it’s a day too many. She returns at dinner the same day. It’s not so bad. Not as bad as she thought it’d be. Harry notices her. He says hello and treats her well. He’s a bit like Luna actually. He’s just there. He does ask questions, but when Ginny pauses or avoids the answer he doesn’t bring it up again and just moves on to talk about Quidditch.

It’s time to return to Hogwarts, at long last, and she’s got a pit in her stomach that won’t end. She reconsiders asking to be home schooled. It wouldn’t be too late. But she sees how excited everyone is and how they want her to be there too, so she reasons that it’ll be okay. Luna reassures her that if it gets really bad, “You can always go home. I don’t think anybody would blame you if you did. No one minded when Penelope went home after she came out of petrification. She came back too.” Somehow… it’s all a little less frightening when she realizes she can always come back home or go back to Hogwarts. She doesn’t know what to say and just pulls Luna in for a hug. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnnd that's that. For now. .... We'll see if i end up doing snapshots of their second (and so forth) year(s)... I have the ideas but idk if I'll write them......... let's see if I'll end up having a stress writing session again... ahahahaha........................ i can sleep now! its 5am and i can sleep! YEAH.


End file.
